PHYS 253 TLC Fundamentals of Physics I: Mechanics Fall 2015 Instructor: Dr. Michael Eads Office: LaTourette 209 Office hours: Mon 1-3pm, Thu 3-4pm, or by appointment Phone: (815) 753-6492 Email: meads@niu.edu Teaching Assistant: Greg Alley Email: gregory.alley@niu.edu Peer Leader: Email: Wataru Hashimoto whashimoto@niu.edu Text: Giancoli, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 4 th Ed. (Pearson) This is available as either a complete textbook, or split into several volumes. Either version will work (volume 1 will be used for PHYS 253, volume 2 will be used for PHYS 273, and volume 3 will be used for PHYS 283). We will be using on online homework system called Sapling Learning (available at http://www.saplinglearning.com ). You will need to create an account on the website. The course you need to register for is Northern Illinois University PHYS 253 Fall15 Eads You need to purchase access to the website. The bookstore should have Sapling Learning access cards for sale. You can also purchase access when signing up to the website. Course description: PHYS 253 is the first semester of calculus-based general physics covering physical laws governing, force, energy, rotation, and vibration. There is one three-hour laboratory a week. The CALC 229/PHYS 253 themed learning community is a unique opportunity for engineering students. Students are simultaneously enrolled in in both Calculus I and General Physics I and the course schedules have been adjusted to ensure that students have covered the needed topics in calculus. In addition, several special activities will occur during the semester. Course objectives: 1. Student will be able to make measurements of physical quantities and use those measurements to describe the of objects in one dimension. 2. Students will be able to use vectors to describe the of objects in two dimensions. 3. Students will be able to use forces and Newton s laws of. 4. Students will be able to apply Newton s laws of to situations involving circular and gravity.
5. Students will be able to describe systems using work, energy, and the conservation of energy. 6. Students will be able to use linear momentum and the conservation of linear momentum to describe systems and collisions. 7. Students will be able to use angular momentum and the conservation of angular momentum to describe rotating and rolling objects. Expectations: Students are expected to attend both the lecture portion of the course (MWF 11-11:50am in Davis Hall 121) and the lab section (T 6:00-8:50pm in Faraday Hall 233). All assignments need to be completed and turned in on time. Significant additional resources and help outside of class are available and as college students it is your responsibility to seek out these resources if you are having difficulty in the course. For example, there is a physics help room (Faraday Hall 251), your lab TA, and the peer leader for the course. Cell phones and all other electronic devices must be silenced during class. Course information will be disseminated through the Blackboard site (http://webcourses.niu.edu). Attendance: Students are expected to attend all class meetings. If there are any extenuating circumstances, arrangements need to made in advance of the absence with the instructor (for the lecture sessions) or the TA (for the lab section). Assignments and Grading: Your grade will be determined from a combination of in-class activities, homework, labs, quizzes, tests, and the final. There will be approximately one homework assignment, one in-class assignment, and one pre-lecture quiz per week. These assignments and the due dates will be announced in class and will be posted on blackboard. Each lab will have an associated assignment which is due at the beginning of the next week s lab session. Every week, during one of the lecture sessions there will be a short quiz. These quizzes cannot be made up if you miss class. There will be three inclass exams during the semester. Finally, there is a comprehensive final exam. Your final grade for the course will be made up of 25% for the lab portion and 75% for the lecture portion. The lecture portion of your grade will be composed of 30% from quizzes, homework, and in-class activities, 15% for each of the three tests, and 25% for the final. IMPORTANT NOTE: YOU MUST PASS THE LABS TO PASS THE COURSE. THAT IS, YOUR CUMULATIVE SCORE ON THE LABS MUST EXCEED 60% OR YOU WILL RECEIVE A FAILING GRADE FOR THE COURSE. The tentative grading scale will be: A: 93% and higher A-: 90-92% B+: 87-89%
B: 83-86% B-: 80-82% C+: 77-79% C: 70-76% D: 60-69% F: below 60% No late assignments will be accepted. Themed Learning Community (TLC) Policy This course is part of a Themed Learning Community, meaning it is intentionally paired with one or two other courses taken in conjunction with one another. It is required that you are enrolled in ALL TLC courses simultaneously in order to benefit from the unique learning opportunity created by these bundled courses. If, for some reason, you wish to drop one of your TLC courses, you must drop all of the courses that make up this TLC. Students are responsible for seeking additional guidance from their TLC instructors or the Office of Student Engagement and Experiential Learning (OSEEL) regarding possible withdrawal from TLC courses. Along with the benefits of integrative coursework, TLC students will also benefit from additional mentoring, academic support, and additional co-curricular opportunities.
Course Schedule This schedule is tentative and subject to change. Week Topic Chapters Lab Week 1 Aug 24 Measurement, units, 1, 2 Sig Figs and pre-assessment Week 2 1D 2 Sky Scraper Aug 31 Week 3 Vectors, 2D 3 No lab Labor Day Sep 7 Week 4 Projectile 3 Coin Toss Sep 14, relative Week 5 Forces, 4 Incline Test 1 Sep 21 Newton s Laws Week 6 Friction, 5 Projectile Sep 28 Equilibrium Week 7 Circular 5, 10 Pulley Oct 5 Week 8 Oct 12 Week 9 Oct 19 Week 10 Oct 26 Week 11 Nov 2 Week 12 Nov 9 Week 13 Nov 16 Week 14 Nov 23 Week 15 Nov 30 Finals Dec 7, torque Statics, gravity, harmonic 6, 12, 14 Axle Work, energy 7, 8 Weightlessness Conservation of Energy 8 Pendulum Test 2 Momentum, 9 Ballistics collisions Momentum 9 Collisions conservation, center of mass Angular 10 Wheel (part 1), rotational energy Angular 11 None Test 3 momentum Thanksgiving Pressure, fluids 13 Wheel (part 2), post-assessment Final scheduled Weds, Dec 9 from 10-11:50am
Accessibility: If you need an accommodation for this class, please contact the Disability Resource Center as soon as possible.the DRC coordinates accommodations for students with disabilities. It is located on the 4th floor of the Health Services Building, and can be reached at 815-753-1303 (V) or drc@niu.edu. Also, please contact me privately as soon as possible so we can discuss your accommodations. The sooner you let us know your needs, the sooner we can assist you in achieving your learning goals in this course. Academic Integrity: As detailed in the current NIU undergraduate catalog: Good academic work must be based on honesty. The attempt of any student to present as his or her own work that which he or she has not produced is regarded by the faculty and administration as a serious offense. Students are considered to have cheated if they copy the work of another during an examination or turn in a paper or an assignment written, in whole or in part, by someone else. Students are responsible for plagiarism, intentional or not, if they copy material from books, magazines, or other sources without identifying and acknowledging those sources or if they paraphrase ideas from such sources without acknowledging them. Students responsible for, or assisting others in, either cheating or plagiarism on an assignment, quiz, or examination may receive a grade of F for the course involved and may be suspended or dismissed from the university. A faculty member has original jurisdiction over any instances of academic misconduct that occur in a course which the faculty member is teaching. The student shall be given the opportunity to resolve the matter in meetings with the faculty member and the department chair. If the facts of the incident are not disputed by the student, the faculty member may elect to resolve the matter at that level by levying a sanction no greater than an F for that course. The faculty member shall notify the student in writing whenever such action is taken, and the Office of Community Standards and Student Conduct shall receive a copy of the Academic Misconduct Incident Reportindicating final disposition of the case, which will be placed in the student s judicial file. In all matters where the charge of academic misconduct is disputed by the student or if the faculty member feels a sanction greater than an F in the course is appropriate (such as repeated offenses or flagrant violations), the faculty member shall refer the matter to the Office of Community Standards and Student Conduct making use of the Academic Misconduct Incident Report. Additional sanctions greater than an F in a course can be levied only through the University Judicial System. With regards to finding the student either responsible or not responsible for his or her action, the ruling of the Judicial Hearing Board shall be binding. In cases where there is either a finding of responsibility or an admission of responsibility by the student, any recommendations by the hearing board regarding the course grade are non-binding on the instructor, who remains solely responsible for assigning a course grade, consistent with the policies set forth in the course syllabus.